Challenge of identity in the urban transformation process: The case of Celiktepe, Istanbul

Abstract

Urban identity as a continuous but shifting notion is a subject of many arguments due to globalization, particularly in the context of the urban transformation, which has taken place around the world with the aim of increasing the quality of urban life. Each urban transformation project had some successes and failures. Some of these failures have been caused by the loss of the sense of place and urban identity. The main aim of this article is to reveal the components of urban identity regarding physical, environmental and social dimensions, to provide measurements of these elements, and to evaluate the achievements and failures through the Celiktepe urban transformation process. Celiktepe informal settlement is a neighborhood in Kagithane district, which is located on the European side of Istanbul and has been experiencing drastic changes for various reasons over a long time. In order to understand these changes, the effects of physical changes in the district's socio-cultural structure and the impacts of urban transformation on the urban identity, place attachment, satisfaction and quality of life of local residents have been investigated. In this article a literature review, an observational study, and a survey have been carried out in the region for collecting data to analyze the urban transformation in the Celiktepe informal settlement. It has been found that there is a direct interaction between the urban transformation process and changes in urban identity and its components.

The Study of Place Identity of Fishermen Water Vilage in Malaysia

“…The relationship between place attachment and place identity, adapted from Hernández et al, 2007(Gür & Heidari, 2019. In agreement with Raymond, Brown, & Weber, 2010 that consider that the attributes of physical and social environments are irremediably related to the personal experience of building place identity (Belanchea, Casalób, & Rubio, 2021).…”

“…In other studies, place attachment is defined by Casakin, Hernández, & Ruiz, 2015 as a human's emotional involvement in his or her life's territory. Characteristics of user groups in the scope of their role, culture and social level affect the place attachment degree of different sociocultural characteristics (Gür & Heidari, 2019). It allows the person to distinguish qualities in changed surroundings that are similar to those in their previous environment and develop a strong sense of familiarity, environmental development, security, and control (Gür & Heidari, 2019).…”

“…The term "environment" can apply to a variety of subjects. This is significantly influenced by the choices made by its users daily (Gür & Heidari, 2019). Shamai, Arnon, & Schnell, 2012 in their paper, state that Kaltenborn, 1997 has discovered that various factors have a role in establishing affective connections towards environments, including the natural and cultural surroundings, family social interactions, heritage, as well as traditions.…”

“…Furthermore, it consists of three elements: the physical context of the location; its actions, circumstances, and occurrences; and the personal and social interpretations built via life experiences and commitment in giving attention towards this area." Place identity is a subset of self-identification that refers to commonly held perceptions, sentiments, and ties to the physical surroundings and attachment to one's home (Gür & Heidari, 2019).…”

Developing a conceptual framework for studying people-place relationship

“…Table 1 displays some of these reviewed papers and their key conclusions. These papers indicate that the most signficant gap in the domain is the unclear relationship between place-related concepts, the heterogeneity in terms and their spatial extension [7,8,9, 1], and the weakness in delivering a theory due to a large literature focusing on the individual level [6,8,10]. Professional theories in spatial sciences have largely focused on the physical aspects of place, with few studies focusing on understanding the meaning, value, characteristics, and psychology of sense of place [2], and as [3] emphasis that this lack of a coherent understanding makes it difficult to study and consistently operationalize these concepts.…”